•the settlement hierarchy classifies places to the number and size of shops and services that they contain
•in a city, there is a high order settlement which will provide with high order services and goods
•at the bottom end, there will be low order settlements which will provide low order services and goods
•a city may provide a range of services including:
•retailing; leisure; educational; medical; financial, real estate; supermarkets
•more in demand items / smaller-scaled services are usually low order
•high order goods have a large sphere of influence and a large threshold population
•sphere of influence: the area surrounding a settlement that is served by the settlement in terms of its services
•the sphere of influence depends on: the number and type of services it provides; the transport facilities available; the level of competition from surrounding settlements
•higher order settlements have several advantages over lower order settlements because of the high order services they provide:
•people will travel further for specialist goods, better quality and specialist services
•people travel further for comparison goods rather than convenience goods
•high-order settlements offer more opportunity for cheaper prices
•people who live in low-order settlements have to travel further than people in high order’s
•the range is important - the maximum distance people are prepared to travel and is dependant on the good / service is needed
•each good / service has a threshold population - the minimum number of customers to make it profitable
•this means convenience stores can make a profit by serving a smaller number of people however comparison goods need a higher threshold and must be in a larger settlement
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